I have a Houdini...and a big dilemma...on my hands...

[L.M.]

Our goldendoodle Seamus is 14 months old.  He is fully housebroken/ trained and well- behaved in the house, etc, and, up until this point, crate-trained.  Here is the problem...Seamus, within the past month or so, suddenly hates his crate.  (I should tell you that my husband and I are teachers and of course have been off the past month for summer vacation, so Seamus' crating schedule is very different now than it is from Sept to June.  He is not in there nearly as much now that we are home during the day aside from occasional day trips and outings.)  Well, my husband and I just returned about an hour ago from the store to find Seamus aka Houdini out of his cage and just hanging out in our finished basement where his crate is.  No mess, destruction, stolen items, etc...just hanging out wagging his tail.  This is the third time he has done this and all three times, there has never been a mess or anything.  Is my Houdini here telling me that he is ready to be trusted on his own without a crate??? I am so torn about this because during a normal school day he would be alone for 8 hours....that's a TON of time for possible destruction to take place.  My other concern is where do I let him have free run?? He loves to look out the window and sleep on the kitchen floor upstairs...but that means trusting him in my living room, kitchen, and dining room.  Gating off certain rooms is not really an option, as our house is a very open 1 level ranch.  I'm worried, however, that if I contain him to the basement, he will be anxious and nervous as he cannot occupy his time looking out the window and he normally does not sleep or relax in the basement...the basement is our hang out/play room.  Sorry this is such a long post...any ideas/experiences/suggestions would be really appreciated.  I figure I have what is left of August to determine what to do with Houdini before we are back to school and he is potentially let loose in my newly furnished house... Eeekk!!       

[L.M.]

He hasn't touched a thing the 3 times he escaped. This is so funny because like you said, he steals things constantly when we are around to get us to play and chase after him.

[Leigh & Allie]

Then I think you should definitely try it for a short period of time and build up from there. Maybe that way you can find out what he might get into and puppy proof it from there.

[L.M.]

Does anyone think that I should be concerned that Seamus, all of a sudden, hates his crate or is this a normal reaction to a crate as more time goes on. When he was little he willingly went in everyday when we went to work and never tried to break out. Now that he's 1, he cries, runs away when we try to put him in, barks while he's in it...Has he just outgrown the need for it or could this be a separation anxiety thing?? I've had other dogs and they loved their crate to the point where they would go in it even when I gave them free run of the house.

[Allyson, Peri & Taquito]

I really don't know. Peri has always and continues to love hers. She even knows the special treat she gets when she enters it. She goes in before I tell her too.
Maybe seperation anxiety since you have been around so much??? Just not sure?

I do think you could try to work on getting him to like it again - treat games, etc...

As far as limiting him to an area (outside of crate), I don't think dogs like dark, enclosed areas. I would put him somewhere where he can look outside and keep watch. Peri loves doing that.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

Both of my dogs just "outgrew" their crates. They hit a point when they just wanted to be free in the house, even though they had been fine in the crate as puppies.

[Adina P]

I agree that it might be time for some trials of him alone at home...like others have said, start with short periods. And before you leave do a clean sweep for ANYTHING that might interest him as a chew toy ;-) It doesn't sound like he has separation anxiety so he probably won't eat through your couch =)

[L.M.]

LOL Adina...One of my coworker's dogs actually ate her entire couch while she was at work one day...he left nothing but the wooden frame of the couch. I think this story may have traumatized me LOL. This same dog also brought a friend (a neighbor's dog named Snoopy) into the house to play one day through his dog door. hehehe I'm sure my Seamus would never do anything like this though =)

[Linda, Webber and Seda]

Webber had the run of the bedroom first and then the whole house when he was good in the bedroom. I don't think he was more than 12 months old. When the chewing has stopped is a good time for a trial. Sounds like Seamus is trustworthy.

[BG and Gavin]

1 year old Gavin has had free reign for a couple of weeks now, but has had access to an increasing number of rooms with a baby gate since about 6 months old. Gavin loves to play steal for attention when we are home. However, he has never touched a single thing when we were not home. I truly think he sleeps. I wonder if Seamus even looks out the window when you are gone?

[Leigh & Allie]

Allie does the same thing. She sits at the top of the stairs so she can see who is coming and going. She then can run down the stairs and guard or come and greet whichever the case may be. I think she sleep most of the time though.

[Christine & Shelby]

My Shelby is only 9 months, and I have been working this summer to transition her to house freedom. I come home at lunch... and if I am going to be longer than 4 hours or so to check on her.... I crate her in the morning and then house freedom in the afternoon. She is doing really well.... she too, loves to pass time watching the neighborhood through the front window. She did have a couple of set backs, but in all honesty - it is because she was out a bit too long early on. Now I (we) have figured it out and honestly - I think she is much happier. Give it a try.... he clearly wants a little freedom and so far hasn't destroyed anything!

[Leslie, Dexter & Kirby]

I'd try giving him free run of the house. Dex and Kirby were given total freedom by the time they turned 2. They are alone for as long as you are gone and never do anything bad while we're gone. I'm pretty sure they do nothing but sleep the entire day. I agree with trying it out during the month of August. We started leaving them loose for 30 minutes and gradually increased it to ~4 hrs. One day we just left them the full day and all was fine. Good luck.